Frank P. Barajas

Education

Biography

Dr. Barajas’ research focuses on the history of Southern California. He has published peer-reviewed essays on agricultural labor in Ventura County, the Sleepy Lagoon Trial, and the implementation of a civil gang injunction in the City of Oxnard. In the fall of 2012, the University of Nebraska Press released his book titled Curious Unions: Mexican American Workers and Resistance in Oxnard, California, 1898-1961. He is currently conducting research for his next book on the of the Chicano Movement in Ventura County.

The research and writing he performs informs his primary responsibility at CI, that is teaching and advancing the learning of students. Historical trends of national and state import are linked, when suitable, to the local area. For example, in the student learning of World War II, Professor Barajas details the contributions, sacrifices, and challenges of varying communities in Southern California. Among his favorite courses to teach are The Historian’s Craft and Tradition and Transformation: The Sixties. The former class allows him to share with students his experiences in learning the method of historical writing. The latter is particularly special as it is an interdisciplinary course co-taught with his colleague in the English Program, Professor Joan Peters.

Before joining the CI faculty in 2001, Professor Barajas was a full-time faculty member for nine years at Cypress College in North Orange County. Since then he has been involved in diverse aspects of CI’s institutional development and the growth of the programs of History and Chicana/o Studies.